My first trip report!- doing Disney with a teething infant and an overly excited 3 yo

[mom_to_2]

Just found your trip report and I love it. It seems like such a laid back relaxing way to do Disney which you have to do with 2 small kids. Love your photos and your kids look very happy which is why we do it - right? I just took my 2 pre-schoolers to Disney and now they are getting older-it's not quite as relaxing.

Looking forward to reading more and thanks for sharing.

Welcome to my TR!!!!! Sooooo glad to have you here!! And thanks! We try to make it not too scheduled and have it be as fun as possible for everyone, and so far it has worked out well for us. It will definitely be interesting to see how things change as the kids get older!! But we've had such wonderful experiences in our first two trips that I CANNOT WAIT to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And neither can my older son, who waked up most mornings asking "Is today a Disney World Day?" And the other day told me we needed to go to Animal Kingdom (he LOVED the safari and the water ride, the name of which escapes me at the moment) and not ever come back home!

 

[mom_to_2]

Just found your TR- your boys are adorable and look like they had so much fun!!! My DS will be turning 3 when we go, so it is nice to read your experiences!!!

glad to have you following along!! I think that is an awesome age to go!! My oldest son was 1 month shy of 3 when we went for the first time (we wanted to take advantage of the free admission while we could! ) And it was a completely amazing trip!! This time he was a couple months short of being 4, but again it was just wonderful!!! If you're interested I can give you an idea of the stuff he really enjoyed at either or both of those ages, it was slightly different each trip, but of course each kid is different. Just let me know if you're interested in that! The most important thing is to know ahead of time that you will not do everything and to relax and enjoy what you can do! Well, that and I hope you have a magical trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And let us know if you're doing a pre-TR so we can see how your plans are going!! I have a feeling that, even though I would LOVE to go again next year (is it crazy to do disney every year?), my disney vacationing may have to be done vicariously for a while!

 

[Tenuviel]

glad to have you following along!! I think that is an awesome age to go!! My oldest son was 1 month shy of 3 when we went for the first time (we wanted to take advantage of the free admission while we could! ) And it was a completely amazing trip!! This time he was a couple months short of being 4, but again it was just wonderful!!! If you're interested I can give you an idea of the stuff he really enjoyed at either or both of those ages, it was slightly different each trip, but of course each kid is different. Just let me know if you're interested in that! The most important thing is to know ahead of time that you will not do everything and to relax and enjoy what you can do! Well, that and I hope you have a magical trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And let us know if you're doing a pre-TR so we can see how your plans are going!! I have a feeling that, even though I would LOVE to go again next year (is it crazy to do disney every year?), my disney vacationing may have to be done vicariously for a while!

OMG! I would love to hear some tips on what he enjoyed!!!! This is my first trip with a little one, so I am completely in the dark!!!! I am hoping to start a pre-trip report once things slow down at work!!! We aren't going until Sept 2010 so I have time But I am a bit obsessive when it comes to planning!!!! I haven't been since 2005, so this trip is REALLY exciting for me!!!

 

[mom_to_2]

OMG! I would love to hear some tips on what he enjoyed!!!! This is my first trip with a little one, so I am completely in the dark!!!! I am hoping to start a pre-trip report once things slow down at work!!! We aren't going until Sept 2010 so I have time But I am a bit obsessive when it comes to planning!!!! I haven't been since 2005, so this trip is REALLY exciting for me!!!

Sure!! And I TOTALLY understand about the compulsive planning...I suffer from that affliction myself! haha. In fact, I find myself planning for our next trip, which is not even scheduled yet!! I'm HOPING to go back in March, but I'm not sure if the week my husband was able to get off will be a good one. to go as far as crowds are concerned..I need to check the calendar and see when Easter falls next year...I also need to figure out what our money situationwill be at that point...minor details! hahaha.
Anyway, I will go back through my stuff from the first trip and get a list put together for you, no problem!!

I can tell you now that for the first trip especially, nap time was extremely important!!! The stimulation of the parks can be a bit much for younger kids, so we found that taking an afternoon break to go home and nap was the best thing to do. (The first year we rented a house in kissimmee with a pool. It was WONDERFUL!) DS did nap in his stroller one of the days we were there that first year so we decided to just stay and let him sleep there, but for the most part we left the parks and came back and it worked out fantastically!! I don't have much time now, but I'll definitely post some of the stuff he particularly enjoyed for you!

 

[Tenuviel]

Sure!! And I TOTALLY understand about the compulsive planning...I suffer from that affliction myself! haha. In fact, I find myself planning for our next trip, which is not even scheduled yet!! I'm HOPING to go back in March, but I'm not sure if the week my husband was able to get off will be a good one. to go as far as crowds are concerned..I need to check the calendar and see when Easter falls next year...I also need to figure out what our money situationwill be at that point...minor details! hahaha.
Anyway, I will go back through my stuff from the first trip and get a list put together for you, no problem!!

I can tell you now that for the first trip especially, nap time was extremely important!!! The stimulation of the parks can be a bit much for younger kids, so we found that taking an afternoon break to go home and nap was the best thing to do. (The first year we rented a house in kissimmee with a pool. It was WONDERFUL!) DS did nap in his stroller one of the days we were there that first year so we decided to just stay and let him sleep there, but for the most part we left the parks and came back and it worked out fantastically!! I don't have much time now, but I'll definitely post some of the stuff he particularly enjoyed for you!

I have been working on an autograph book for my DS already and my DH keeps saying, "You realize the trip is over a year away..." After 10 years of marriage you think he would know me better

My son is horrible without naps, so we will definitely be planning on that! Look forward to reading more from you!!!!

 

[PiratesMommy]

I'm a little late, but I'm here enjoying your trip report. Your boys are adorable! I have a boy too, and we are in the process of planning a trip for the Fall....he wil be 2.5 yo at that time. We are trying to decide which resort to book. Sounds like the CR was super convenient for you!

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[mom_to_2]

So day 7...our LAST park day was our Animal Kindgom day. For whatever reason I always leave animal kingdom as our last park to visit...o.k. that makes it sound as if we've been to WDW a bunch of times, but in reality we've only been twice now, so my "always" is only two times! Anyway, I think I've left it for last both times because my 2 favorite parks (and DS's) are MK and DHS, and DH loves EP, so we try to send the majority of our time there. Also, we have such a wonderful zoo at home (and we go pretty often) I've never felt hard pressed to go see the animals. I am thinking that next visit, though, we will try to do AK a little earlier on and maybe get a bit more out of it. Having said that, we did have a WONDERFUL time at AK this year (better than our previous visit)!!

Our trip to AK began with Donald's safari breakfast at Tusker House!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!!

 

[mom_to_2]

I have been working on an autograph book for my DS already and my DH keeps saying, "You realize the trip is over a year away..." After 10 years of marriage you think he would know me better

My son is horrible without naps, so we will definitely be planning on that! Look forward to reading more from you!!!!

That's hilarious!! I made matching T-shirts for all of this year but, oddly enough, it was DH's idea!!!!! I think people who know hi would be surprised by that! It was really fun, though!

So I've gone back through our stuff from our first vaca (when DS was just shy of 3 years old) and this was the stuff he enjoyed most (I'll do another post later listing stuff from this year). Asterisks mark his absolute favorites:

In all parks: meeting the characters (obviously every kid is different as far as this goes, but DS just loved it!!!!)

In MK:
Goofy's Barnstormer*
Pooh's Honey Pots
the Pooh Play area*
It's a Small World*
Dumbo ride*
Philharmagic
Peter Pan
Buzz Lightyear ride/game*

At DHS
Playhouse Disney Live* ( A MUST see!!!!!)
Muppets 3D
Honey I shrunk the kids play area*
Cars movie characters* (I know i listed characters, but hey- it Cars!)

At EP
Listening to the music (he particularly LOVED Off Kilter)*
Turtle Talk with Crush*
Kidcot stations
Living with the land boat ride*

At AK
Triceratop Spin*
Nemo musical* (we didn't get to see the lion king show either time we've been, but ive heard it is a must see as well)

Also, depending on where you stay and what the weather is like: swimming in the pool!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...this is all I can think of for that first trip for now...I hope this helps!!!!

 

[Tenuviel]

That's hilarious!! I made matching T-shirts for all of this year but, oddly enough, it was DH's idea!!!!! I think people who know hi would be surprised by that! It was really fun, though!

So I've gone back through our stuff from our first vaca (when DS was just shy of 3 years old) and this was the stuff he enjoyed most (I'll do another post later listing stuff from this year). Asterisks mark his absolute favorites:

In all parks: meeting the characters (obviously every kid is different as far as this goes, but DS just loved it!!!!)

In MK:
Goofy's Barnstormer*
Pooh's Honey Pots
the Pooh Play area*
It's a Small World*
Dumbo ride*
Philharmagic
Peter Pan
Buzz Lightyear ride/game*

At DHS
Playhouse Disney Live* ( A MUST see!!!!!)
Muppets 3D
Honey I shrunk the kids play area*
Cars movie characters* (I know i listed characters, but hey- it Cars!)

At EP
Listening to the music (he particularly LOVED Off Kilter)*
Turtle Talk with Crush*
Kidcot stations
Living with the land boat ride*

At AK
Triceratop Spin*
Nemo musical* (we didn't get to see the lion king show either time we've been, but ive heard it is a must see as well)

Also, depending on where you stay and what the weather is like: swimming in the pool!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...this is all I can think of for that first trip for now...I hope this helps!!!!

Thank you so much!!!! We are going to stay at CBR I put notes on these rides in my planning book....I'd be embrassed admitting that elsewhere, but I figure I am in good company on disboards

My DS is a huge Pooh/Tigger fan at the moment and also loves Toy Story, so I am bursting for excitement for this trip!!!!!!

 

[mom_to_2]

Thank you so much!!!! We are going to stay at CBR I put notes on these rides in my planning book....I'd be embrassed admitting that elsewhere, but I figure I am in good company on disboards

My DS is a huge Pooh/Tigger fan at the moment and also loves Toy Story, so I am bursting for excitement for this trip!!!!!!

You are definitely in good company around here! You should see all the various charts I put together for our trip!

If you think your son would do well with character you should do breakfast at crystal palace!!!!!! We saw pooh, tigger, eeyore, and piglet there And they were just great! The food was pretty good as well, but of course you don't do character meals for the food!

For toy story there is more stuff at DHS (although there is the one ride at MK, too, which my son really likes). In addition to toy story mania- my DS LOVED this!- there is also a new (to me, at least) chatacter spot there where he can usually meet buzz and woody. We didn't make it in there this time, and it wasn't there last time we went, but i've heard good things. Even before they opened that character spot we got to see woody, buzz, some toy soldiers, and jessie (I think that is her name...the cowgirl character), so if anything id think it is even better now!!

 

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi
just read your TR, I enjoy it

I Love reading reports with young children and parents who are enjoying seeing the magic in there children eyes.

thanks for the tips you gave another poster about there almost 3 year old, They help me too!!
As we are taking our 2 1/2 year old grandson, in 93 days.

I see you from Ohio too!

Have a magicial day!

 

[Tenuviel]

You are definitely in good company around here! You should see all the various charts I put together for our trip!

If you think your son would do well with character you should do breakfast at crystal palace!!!!!! We saw pooh, tigger, eeyore, and piglet there And they were just great! The food was pretty good as well, but of course you don't do character meals for the food!

For toy story there is more stuff at DHS (although there is the one ride at MK, too, which my son really likes). In addition to toy story mania- my DS LOVED this!- there is also a new (to me, at least) chatacter spot there where he can usually meet buzz and woody. We didn't make it in there this time, and it wasn't there last time we went, but i've heard good things. Even before they opened that character spot we got to see woody, buzz, some toy soldiers, and jessie (I think that is her name...the cowgirl character), so if anything id think it is even better now!!

We have crystal palace on the schedule for Logan's birthday breakfast

I really wish they had a toy story character meal! I am very excited to go on Toy Story Mania! I think he will like the characters. We have been watching some sing alongs from the parks and I show him the characters online with peoples photos. He names the ones he knows and if he doesn't recognize them he says, "who's that?" It is so cute!!!!

 

[mom_to_2]

Sooo, as I said before, our last park day was an AK day and we started off with breakfast at Tusker House. Although we really DID NOT like the way they ran their buffet- saying there was no line and essentially telling people it was ok to cut in front of others...who is gonna do that? It is SO rude!- we did like the food! And the character interaction was great!

DS even got up and participated in the little dance-line thing.

After breakfast DH went to get FP for kilimanjaro safari, while the boys and I headed over to DinoLand, where we rode TriceraTop Spin first thing. Both DS and baby boy LOVED that!!

 

[mom_to_2]

Goodness it has been a long time since I've been on here! So first off...hello to everyone out there reading this!!!

I mentioned my TR to my SIL the other day and it made me realize that I had not yet finished it- yikes! Luckily it hasn't been so long that I can't remember our trip- and of course I have plenty of pics to remind me of what we did! But of course by the time I get around to scrapbooking this trip I'm probably going to have to print this out to remember everything! In any event...I think I left off on our last day at the parks...our day at AK.

 

[mom_to_2]

After having a great time in DinoLand we headed over to the dinosaur roller coaster ride. DS thought he wanted to ride it (although I think he would have chickened out! haha), but it was not running yet. So DS occupied his time by climbing all over the big dinosaurs in the area and just running around like a crazy person! At that point it was time to head over to Kilimanjaro safari- woohoo!!!!!!! This was SO fun for all of us!! DH and DS loved it, and so did baby boy and I! We had a bit of a wait at one point because the rhinos had roamed onto the road and were not in a big hurry to finish crossing, but it was just such interesting scenery that the kids did not seem to mind at all. We did not ride this on our first trip to AK and I have to say that from here on out this will be a MUST DO for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the safari we headed over towards the water ride (the name of which escapes me at the moment)...we had a small lunch at the asian restaurant and then DH and DS got soaked on the water ride!!! They had a great time!!!

 

[SunnieRN]

Great trip report!! When we went to WDW last Sept. for the first time, my older grandson had just barely turned 3 and my baby grandson was 7 mos. old.

Your boys are so cute and have gorgeous eyes!!! Really enjoyed this!